On Wednesday, Jan. 30, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., Crary will host a gathering of the fair-haired at Bootlegger’s on Broadway in downtown Troy (200 Broadway). The evening will feature drink specials and free pub snacks for red heads, and a brief discussion of “official” League business. Kenneth “Kenny Red” DuBois, of Bootleggers, will be tending bar. The event is for ages 21 and over. There is no admission fee.

“Our formal agenda is concise: 1) Us. 2) Them,” said Crary, who jokingly refers to the non-red-haired population as The 98 Percent. “Basically it’s just going to be a bunch of red heads in the same place, all drinking and yawping at happy hour.”

Though the League is one of the most exclusive – only one to two percent of the world has red hair – the meeting will be held in the main barroom, where all shades of hair color are welcome to join in the fun and observe the spectacle of the “Red Tide.”

“But these gingers kick back,” Crary warned, in tongue-in-cheek reference to the recent South Park-inspired school bully practice of kicking red-haired children (and also in reference to stereotypes, which may or may not be true, about the propensity of the red-haired types to imbibe). “So keep your feet on the floor.”

Though Crary expects the League will quickly sprout chapters around the world, the Troy-based author believes his hometown is the right place for the movement to be headquartered.

“We’re crawling with gingers here in the Collar City,” he said. “And contrary to urban legend and pseudo science, we are definitely not going extinct. Though I don’t say that to discourage those who wish to further propagate our species.”

In addition to bi-annual meetings of the League, Crary plans to orchestrate semi-surprise congregations of red heads at various locations throughout the year. He calls these gatherings “Red Tides,” and likens them to flash mobs without the choreographed dancing.

“Not since age of the Vikings have roving bands of red heads posed more of a threat to world order,” Crary joked. “But we’ll gladly forgo sacking cities for drink specials and free pub grub.”

The true purpose of the League, Crary says, is just for people to have a little fun with being a little different from the norm. Not everyone will get the joke, he said, but it’s all in good fun.

“Because we always stand out, red heads can never hide in a crowd or at the back of the classroom,” Crary said. “So we learn to have fun under scrutiny. Some people call that being ‘fiery,’ and we do tend to be an excitable bunch. But that’s also the reason why so many prominent figures in history have had crimson locks.”

Crary also notes that the League of Extraordinary Red Heads is not to be confused with the Red-Headed League of Sherlock Holmes fame. “We’re far more extraordinary than those gingers.”